Allegiant Alternate Ending
by mystajia79
Summary: What would have happened if the scenerio in the Weapons Room had played out differently? Read to find out :)


Chapter 50 – Tris – Page 473 (paragraph 2)

David sits still, like a statue, like a man of stone. For a moment, there is no humanity there, only the dead eyes of a man who has lost everything. Then something changes. I'm not sure what, but his demeanor shifts. First his eyes, then his posture. Before me, I do not see a man that is hardened against the world, I see a man who is defeated. I see his resolve falter and the gun in his hands shake.

"I did. I do. She never should have been in danger. She should have been safe, here, with me!" He was on the verge of tears. Even though he was preparing to kill me, I felt pity for him. I had almost lost Tobias, and I was crippled by the thought. How would I have felt if he had died and I had been unable to save him from himself? I don't know if I could live with that guilt. I wasn't sure what to do. If I ran at him, he would more than likely pull the trigger. If I tried to release the memory serum, he would probably shoot me in the back before I reached it. I could try talking to him, reasoning with him, but one look at him and I knew he was beyond reason. So I just stood there. Each heartbeat, each breath, seemed to stretch on forever. I knew that my life and the lives of everyone here and in Chicago were in the hands of David. _Please don't let it all be for nothing! _

"I could have given her everything! Instead she chose _him!_" He spat the last word out like it was poison. It took every ounce of self control I had not to react. "And look where it got her. Our children would have been GP. They could have gone on to revolutionize our world! The possibilities were endless." He was beginning to sweat. "Our lives would have been perfect!" He was breaking. "But that wasn't enough for her. She betrayed me! She chose to remain with _them, _the GD!" I didn't believe in the GP and GD, but even more than that, I knew you couldn't control who you loved any more than you could change the color of your eyes. Arguing this with him would be pointless. "I never stopped loving her, though," he said in a shaky voice. "Nothing could make me stop loving her." And with that, he turned the gun on himself and fired. I didn't even have time to react. His body crumpled into a heap on the floor, and blood trailed out from where the bullet hit.

I was too stunned to move. I hadn't seen that coming. Each scenario that had ran through my head had ended with my death, not his. The genetically pure weren't supposed to succumb to despair like this. As soon as the thought entered my mind, I dismissed it. Of course they would. We were all human, after all. I finally snapped out of the fog I was in. The serum. I had to release the serum. I turned from the sight in front of me, entered the sequence of numbers that Matthew had made Caleb repeat over and over, and pushed the green button.

Chapter 51 – Tobias – Page 489 – halfway down the page (everything before stays the same)

"What is it? I say

Cara shakes her head.

"Where's Tris?" I scream.

"She went into the Weapon's lab instead of Caleb."

My whole body went cold. Of course she would go instead of Caleb. Despite everything he has done, she loves him. I think I'm going to be sick. Each second that passes is unbearable. "Where is she, Cara?!"

"She's still in the Weapons Lab."

I couldn't bring myself to ask the next question. My life hung on the answer, and if it was not the one I needed to hear, I knew I would never be able to breathe again. "Is she," I couldn't finish. The words were caught in my throat. I had to know, but was terrified to hear.

"She's alive," Cara responded. "But she won't come out. David's dead. I'm not sure what happened…" That was all I needed to hear. The weight that was on my chest, threatening to make it collapse was gone. Tris was alive! Nothing else mattered. Nothing but her. I took off running toward the lab.

I was out of breath by the time I reached the lab. I looked around frantically for Tris, but I didn't see her. There was broken glass all over the ground, and a sticky, red substance. I didn't have to follow the trail before I saw him. I dismissed the sight almost immediately. He wasn't who I came here to find.

"Tris?" I called. No answer. "Tris? Are you in here?" I heard a muffled sound from the opposite corner of the room. As I turned, I saw her crouched down in the corner. Her hands were covering her face, and I could tell she was shaking. Was she hurt? I sprinted over to her and dropped down to her side. "Tris, it's me. Are you okay?" It was a stupid question – she was clearly not ok, but at the moment, I was more concerned about her physical well being.

"Tobias?" she said taking her hands away from her face. Her eyes were bloodshot, but she didn't seem to be physically harmed. "Tobias!" she sobbed as she wrapped her arms around me.

I don't know how long we sat like that for. My legs had been numb for a while before Cara and Caleb poked their heads into the lab.

"Sorry," Cara began, almost apologetically, "but there are a lot of people with questions out there. The memory serum worked, and they have no idea what is going on. I know it's a bad time, but, I don't know what to tell them."

I didn't care what they thought or what anyone else told them. My only concern was the woman in my arms.

"Go," Tris whispered.

"I'm not going anywhere." I had never felt more protective than I did in that moment.

"It's okay." She managed a small smile, even though I knew she didn't really feel it. "They need someone to fill in the blanks."

"So let someone else tell them." I was a bit harsher than I meant to be. The venom in my voice was not for her, but for them. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean…"

"I know. And really, I'll be okay. This is what we fought for, Tobias, to make sure we were able to create a new world for all of us. Go." Not a single part of me cared what was going on in the rest of the compound, but I knew she was right. Everything we had gone through was for this. As much as I hated to admit it, she was right – as usual.

"I won't be long," I said.

"I know."

Reluctantly, I stood up and began walking toward the new future that we were about to create.

Chapter 52 – Tris

It's over. It's over. I kept telling myself this, but it didn't sound true. After Caleb and Cara brought me back to the room, I wrapped myself up in the blanket, rolled over, and pretended to be asleep, but sleep was the last thing I could do. I don't know how long ago they left, and I don't care. Seeing David take his own life rattled me more than I thought it could. Over the past few weeks, I've seen more death and terror than most people see in a lifetime, and while each experience changed me, I was able to pick myself up and move forward. What was it about David's death that undid me?

I feel his presence before I hear him. There is nowhere in the world that I wouldn't be able to feel him.

"Tris?" he said softly. I needed him. I rolled over and met his eyes. I didn't need to say a word – in two steps he had crossed the room and had me in his arms. "How are you holding up?" he asked, concern written all over his face. I couldn't answer, so I just shrugged. Nobody really knew what happened in the Weapons Room. Most people probably assumed I had shot David, and I didn't have the strength to set them straight right now.

"He did it," I finally managed to say.

"Who did what?" Tobias asked, genuinely confused.

"David. He killed himself. I made it through the death serum, but when I got into the room, David was there." I took a deep breath. The last thing I wanted to do was relive the experience, but I needed to figure out why it was affecting me the way it was. If anyone could help, it was Tobias. "He had a gun pointed at me. There was nothing stopping him from killing me."

"But he didn't," Tobias finished with conviction. "You're here, safe, with me, Tris." My rock. That was one of the million things I loved about him. No matter what I told him, no matter how far I strayed, I knew he would never let go.

"No, he didn't. He loved her. My mom. David loved her and couldn't accept that she didn't choose him. No matter how good his life was, no matter how much power, influence, or respect he had, it wasn't enough." I started to break, and it finally made sense. The fact that David took his own life because he would rather die than live one more minute without her hit a little too close to home. I had never admitted it, not even to myself, but I wondered if I would feel the same way if I lost Tobias. Is it possible to be so lost without the love of your life that you can't find the will to go on? The thought that someone, anyone, no matter how unintentional it was, could hold that kind of power over you terrified me.

"That's not going to happen to us, you know." He knew what I was feeling without me having to say a word. Like always. He knew me, better than I knew myself most days. He was my strength, my heart, the other half of my soul, just like I was his. And that's when it hit me.

"I know," I said as I pressed my lips to his. I did know. That was the difference between my mom and David and me and Tobias. Tobias was mine and I was his. As many mistakes as we had made, there was no possible way we could, no way we would, walk away from each other. Ours wasn't one sided – we needed each other equally. That wasn't the case with my mother and David. No matter what his feelings for her may have been, they were not reciprocated. No matter what he could offer her, she knew her heart would never be his, so she left. Even though her life may not have been perfect, it was hers. Her choices were driven by love, and that's all anyone can ask for.

Chapter 53 – Tobias

The next few weeks weren't easy. Trying to reestablish order in the compound was a nightmare. I had been in contact with Evelyn, and by the sound of it, there was still a good amount of chaos in Chicago, as well. Tris was as strong as ever. She was a natural leader, and the people here listened to and respected her. Not that I could blame them. I knew that this time next week, we would be returning to the place I would always consider home. The thought was both reassuring and frightening, but I knew that as long as I had her by my side, there was no fear I couldn't face.

Chapter 54 – Tris

"You ready?" I asked.

"Not even close," Tobias laughed. "Let's do it."

He took my hand as we jumped off the building into the waiting net below. It seemed only fitting. We laughed as we rolled off the net onto the hard ground of the dauntless compound. As we made our way to meet Evelyn, I couldn't help but remember how everything began. Now it was all about to change again. There were not more GP and GDs. The memory serum had erased those biases. Now it was up to us to create a better life for everyone. Even though I knew it would be a tough road, it was one I was more than happy to go down. For the first time in my life, there were no more divisions. No factions. No separation between those with 'damaged' genes and those without. One thing I have learned is that good and evil exist within each of us. It is up to each person which to decide which path they will choose. I choose love. I choose hope.


End file.
